Danske Bank A S Acquires New Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 374,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,695,000. Danske Bank A S owned approximately 0.06% of MetLife as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $700,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $85,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,129,000. Foster & Motley Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter valued at about $7,166,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.64.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $95.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $92.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.33 and a 1 year high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, August 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.40%.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.